Stocking Advice Please

[NewBea]

Slowly getting to the point when I can start adding more fish to our tank.
I currently have a 100L tank with 2 swordtails, 2 sailfin mollies and 4 various coloured mollies + I have about a dozen molly babies about 3 weeks old but I plan to take them to the local pet shop as I would prefer other species in the tank as well.

I've done some research to see which fish would go together nicely without any of them being to aggressive and I'm planning to have some of the following:
- 2 zebra and 2 leopard Danios
- about 4 guppies
- 2 dwarf chain loaches
- about 2-4 platies
- some cardinal tetras or mix of tetras?

My questions:
- Are they all compatible?
- Danios and especially Tetras prefer lower ph and the rest prefers the higher range - would it be ok to keep them together? If yes what ph level do you reckon they would all be happy to live in? (my water is currently quite alkaline over 8 but that's for a different topic to address)
- What's the minimum number from each of the species that I would have to keep? (I'm trying to keep as many different type as possible without overstocking the tank)
- Can I have let's say 2 neon, 2 cardinal and 2 emperor tetras and expect them to shoal together?
- What would be the best order in getting them (I've read that Tetras need a more mature tank but Danios are good starter fish)?
- Also I didn't realise how big mollies could get and ended up getting quite a few - would it be ok to reduce the mollies from 4 to 2?

Thanks in advance and I welcome any other recommendations as well

 

[MrsM]

rather than the mix of tetras id have all the same...1 large shoal looks better and plus you know theyll shoal together then, ive got 5 rummy nose tetras, they are brill love them best tetras!!

as for the rest im clueless really...someone with better knowledge will be along soon no doubt

 

[NewBea]

Ok, I keep that in mind. I know I'm a bit greedy - I have a medium size tank but I "want it all" there are so many lovely fish out there that I was already asking my other half if he reckons we could get a bigger tank (only 3 months after we had our first ever tank) just so that I can keep all the fish I like

 

[CezzaXV]

I started off with a 60L tank but recently moved up to a 155L. Trouble is, when you have the space, you realise that all the fish you wanted just aren't compatible most of the time!

I've got cardinals and they're beautiful little fish. I agree with MrsM that you should stick to a shoal of all the same type. Even if they did shoal, they would be much happier amongst their own kind, and you'd want a minimum of 6.. Same goes for the danios.

Guppies should be fine, but you'd need to keep either 1M:3F and you will have a lot of babies, all males, or all females. Females tend to be much duller, but you may see a little aggression with in an all male group, especially of that size.

Platies are the same - you'd want 1M and 2-3F, and expect lots and lots of babies. I've not kept them myself so someone may chime in behind me as to whether or not an all male/female group is advisable.

The mollies are livebearers like the guppies and platies - they generally want at least 2-3 females to every male to avoid any individual female getting too much male attention.

I'm not familiar with the loaches, but a quick Google suggest they need to be kept in groups of 5 minimum.

If you fishless cycle your tank, you can theoretically add all of your fish at once after it's done. I added my cardinals immediately after I cycled my tank and they're all still going a year on.

 

[Tuxyu3]

I thought male guppies were pretty docile if there were no females to compete over? Loaches will need a larger group, make sure they are small enough for the tank. I will have to have a more in-depth look later, i have to go

 

[NewBea]

Thanks for all the details, CezzaXV.
It looks like that I will need to stick to less species and more numbers within each species then.
And by the sounds of things I should keep the livebearers to minimum unless I want to keep donating babies to the fish shop.

What do you reckon on the PH preference of the fish then?

 

[CezzaXV]

@Tuxyu3 - I had a group of 7 male guppies to start off with. They weren't agressive as such in the grand scheme of fish aggressiveness, but it wasn't a rare occurrence for a few of them to have split tails, and I'd on occasion see two or three of them ganging up on another and chasing one around. I'm making it sound worse than it was tbh, but they weren't completely peaceful in my experience.

@NewBea - If you don't have a lot of decorations in your tank, it's more than possible that the other fish (including the parents) will eat the babies, though there's nothing you can do to stop them having babies.

If you google each species you should easily be able to find their pH preference, but my advice would be seriously don't mess with your pH. It's a mistake many new fishkeepers make, thinking the pH is wrong and that they need to change it. In reality, most fish will be able to handle whatever comes out of your tap and it's much safer to keep them in a constant, stable body of water than one where the pH is all over the place. If you're really worried about pH, you'd be better off picking fish species to match the pH of your water, rather than vice versa.

 

[NewBea]

If you google each species you should easily be able to find their pH preference, but my advice would be seriously don't mess with your pH. It's a mistake many new fishkeepers make, thinking the pH is wrong and that they need to change it. In reality, most fish will be able to handle whatever comes out of your tap and it's much safer to keep them in a constant, stable body of water than one where the pH is all over the place. If you're really worried about pH, you'd be better off picking fish species to match the pH of your water, rather than vice versa.

I just meant that different fish likes different ph levels (which I already checked on fish wiki) and I wasn't sure whether to try to stick with species that prefer the higher level or it's ok to get some tetras in which prefer the slightly lower levels.

 

[CezzaXV]

It depends on what your pH is really. Most fish will adapt to any pH within reason. If you're buying from a local fish shop, they'll likely already be in water of a similar pH to yours.

I have, however, found that my guppies (hardwater fish) just haven't lasted anywhere near as long as my cories and tetras (softwater fish) in my super soft water. Having said that though, guppies don't live as long as most other fish anyway, so I can't tell you if it's related.

I've just realised that I'm talking to you in two different threads here lol. I'd try and sort the pH issue out first if you intend to keep any soft water species. As I said, they'll likely adapt, but if your water is pH 8.8 that's a long way for them to adapt.

 

[MrsM]

My rummynose prefer soft water but they seem fine in my 7.8 ph tank i wanted lots of different fish, maybe one or 2 of each kind so i could fit them all in, but now i know that its not the done thing....the fish i have like to shoal, and to be honest its better to watch a shoal flying around the tank as a group than 6 different fish doing nothing....i cant wait to get my stock numbers up

 

[NewBea]

Good to know that fish can adopt to different ph levels and live if not happily but reasonably well I will definitely sort out the ph levels before buying any of the soft water fishes.

You're right Claire, I think I will drop my ambitions for loads of different kind and settle for the few that I like most and make sure there are enough of them in the tank.

I think I will get Danios in next as they meant to be good in new tanks - and even though I already have fish in the tank I never know how the water is going to go the next time I add fish so I just keep it cautious.

 

[MrsM]

I really wouldnt mess with the ph to be honest, just drip acclimate your new fish and they should be ok, look up drip acclimating methods, its easy and it works well so your fish dont get shock once you put them in your tank...i use this method everytime and since i started using it i havent lost a new fish yet you had anymore thoughts on what youd like in your tank? Edit...just saw your adding danio....not so keen myself but just add fish slowly...1-2 a week to give your filter chance to catch up, watch your water params and if you see any trace of ammonia or nitrite...water change water change water hange until its zero! X

 

[NewBea]

What's your reservation about the danios? Any reason you wouldn't recommend them?
I like the pattern of the danios and the loaches so I think I get those - unless I need to be aware of something to do with the danios.
Then I quite like the colours of the guppies.
I think I will need to reduce the number of my mollies as I will really run out of space.

So how about the following set up:
2 swordtails
2 sailfin mollies
2 mollies
4 danios (zebra and leopard mix)
5 dwarf chain loaches
4 guppies

Is this too much or ok?

 

[Essjay]

Just one thing to warn you about the loaches - they are very expensive! You could get a whole shoal of danios for the same price as one loach. The cheapest I've seen them near me recently is just under £10 each. I got mine a few years ago when they were 'only' £7.50 each

 

[NewBea]

Just one thing to warn you about the loaches - they are very expensive! You could get a whole shoal of danios for the same price as one loach. The cheapest I've seen them near me recently is just under £10 each. I got mine a few years ago when they were 'only' £7.50 each

hhmmm - yes, good point, I need to check that out - I don't remember the dwarf chain loaches being too expensive but maybe I didn't check the price on that particular one - I went through about 2 dozen different fish at the store that day - the rest of the research was then done online.